One of my friends is a sixty-something-year-old woman who retired recently. She got divorced years ago, her only child is grown up and gone, and she’s now alone.
Basically, her life hasn’t really gone according to plan.
But here’s why I’m so inspired by her: She hasn’t let circumstances dictate how she would live her life, even when certain things didn’t work out.
She decided that no matter what, she was going to make the most of her life.
So what did she do?
She sold her house, bought a camper van, and traveled across the country on her own.
At an age when a lot of people are super-glued to their couches, watching the news, she decided she wanted more. And she went out and got it.
But that’s not all.
When she came back after a year, she decided her adventures had only just started: She decided to go to a foreign country to teach.
So she did.
She packed up her life and said goodbye to her daughter and went off to spend several months abroad, in a country she was completely unfamiliar with.
She didn’t speak the language, she didn’t know anyone, and she had no idea what she was getting herself into.
But she went anyway. And she loved it.
She got to meet new people, learn a new language, and immerse herself in another culture.
Instead of shying away from a new experience or creating all sorts of excuses for why she couldn’t possibly travel, she went for it.
You and I can do the same.
Whatever your dreams are, don’t bury them
I love my friend’s story. It’s a reminder that, regardless of our age or our circumstances, we can still follow our dreams if we can just put our excuses aside and give ourselves permission to live fully.
What I’ve realized is that we tend to put limits on ourselves and on what we can do. We tell ourselves all kinds of stories about how what we want to do is impossible.
And yet, it’s not. And I think, deep down, we know it’s not.
Why? Because we can’t stop thinking about it.
We can’t stop dreaming of how our lives could be if we just had the courage to try things that make us uncomfortable.
As I’ve discovered for myself, we have dreams for a reason. Those dreams are what we are meant to do.
No matter what your dreams are, know that they are valid — regardless of who might dismiss them.
No matter where you are right now, you can get up tomorrow morning and decide to change your life. In fact, you can decide that right now. Yes, you can follow your dreams.
You can decide to never go back to what’s been holding you back and embrace the journey you want to take from now on.
Use your time to your advantage
I used to be terrified of getting older. I would look at my life and think, “I’m one year older, but have I really done anything to advance my goals? Am I really where I want to be in life?”
Too often, the answer was no.
But now that I’m actually doing what makes sense for me, I don’t dread getting older nearly as much as I did before.
I can’t wait to see where I’ll be in the coming years.
Instead of being sad about how quickly time flies, I’m using the time I do have to my advantage.
And now, I no longer have the impression that life is passing me by — I’m actually living it now.
If you start following the right path for you, you’ll stop thinking of every passing day as a waste.
You’ll stop falling into bed exhausted and dragging yourself to your desk to do work that doesn’t have any meaning for you. If you have the courage to follow your dreams, that’ll give you energy and excitement you may not have felt in a long time.
Reassess your life
No matter how old you are, you can turn your life around. If you dread getting older, as I used to, think about why that is. Honestly, think about it.
Staying at a job you hate, for example, might seem like something you just have to resign yourself to, but it’s not. You can change.
The first degree I got was in a field that didn’t really interest me. Now, some would say, “If you work in your field, you won’t waste the degree you spent money on!”
But I think that’s the wrong way of thinking.
A more important thing to consider is, “Would I be wasting my life if I worked a job I hated?”
I think the answer to that is yes. So I’m not going to.
What you do matters more than you think
I’m convinced that as people, we’re all connected. That means that doing what doesn’t fulfill you might have a negative impact on other people by discouraging them from their own dreams for the future.
They might look at you and think, “I guess this is just the way life is. Maybe I can’t change my circumstances, like so-and-so. Maybe settling for mediocre is just part of being an adult.”
Of course, that’s not true. But it’s easy to see how people might be influenced to think there’s nothing more to life than working an exhausting job and watching Netflix every night.
The good news, though, is that if you live your dreams, others will be inspired by you just as people like my friend inspired me.
Here’s the bottom line: Whatever it is you’ve always wanted to do, it’s not too late to start. Like my friend, you can turn your life around and follow your dreams — even if you think you’re too old.
I hope you will.
This article first appeared on Medium.
